Is a "thank you" so difficult?

If all goes well, I hope to have some really cool stuff to say about our upcoming All-for-charity anthology later this week. However, today I wanted to talk about something that YOU, the writer types who are out there, can do to make a difference to the people who pay your bills. Yep, I am talking about the readers.

Now, I will absolutely not be the person to take credit for starting this, but I would like to be one of the individuals who perhaps starts a wee bit of a "politeness" movement. So, there is no disputing that we writers LOVE reading reviews that tell us how amazing our stuff is and that we are the greatest thing since sliced bread. That is a given.

Some of us even enjoy seeing what worked and what did not. We can divorce ourselves from the ego long enough to see a well-constructed review that points out a few chinks in our armor. After all, that is how we improve.

However, after you have checked your newest reviews and shared the good parts of the best ones with friends, family, and loved ones...I have a suggestion. Take your finger off that mouse and do not just click away to the nether worlds of Facebook and the like. How about this: hit the "comment" button and leave a little note of thanks. After all, they went through all the time and trouble of leaving you a review (which we all crave and want more of). How difficult is it to just leave a comment thanking the individual for taking the time to review your work? It's just a tiny moment of courtesy, but it could lead to fans who feel connected to you like never before. 

I actually had one such person send me an email that expressed hope that it was me and not some member of my staff! Okay...stop laughing, it wasn't that funny. But seriously, as somebody who worked in radio, I discovered that it was not the glamorous life portrayed on WKRP in Cincinnati. The fact is, many of our readers do not differentiate between us and the likes of King and Koontz. We do what we do and think nothing of it because it is simply no big deal to us. We know all of our flaws and failures, but to the daily reader who found you by chance, you are an AUTHOR! Now, imagine some of the authors that you admire and picture what getting a "thank you" from one of them might feel like. Yeah...see what I mean?